Destiny
by Alistair de Reuyter
Summary: What would happen if Ruby had come several seconds earlier, or Weiss just had a slightly different idea. They would probably be able to save a certain read-headed warrior. I ll try to keep as close to the canon as I can, writing a proper continuation as I see it, in which Pyrrha Nikos managed to survive. Light Arkos focus, but I will not neglect other characters.
1. The Tower of Beacon

Chapter I - The Tower of Beacon

When Ruby and her partner Weiss got to the base of the Tower of Beacon, they almost froze at the sight before them.

The very top of the building was in ruins. What was originally professor Ozpin´s office was now a pile of rubble and debris, chunks of stone littered the ground, the roof and parts of the wall were gone, scattered all the way along the courtyard. It was a good thing the school was empty now; Ruby could not imagine what would have happened if the stones fell when there were people around. The courtyard was always lively, always full of students or teachers, or even hunters returning from and going on missions. Now, as it lay devoid of all life, it gave Ruby a creepy feeling.

What was more, the destruction was still going on. Flashes of bright red and orange, and some sort of weird dark shine coloured the night sky and the castle under it. Parts of the building flew out from the tower at random intervals, accompanied by several large cogwheels travelling at incredible speeds.

And then there was the dragon-Grimm. The huge monster was circling around the tower, sometimes randomly smashing buildings in wanton acts of destruction, and loosing deafening roars.

"Pyrrha!" escaped Ruby´s lips in a horrified squeak. She had an ominous feeling, down at the pit of her stomach, which began when all of this started, back at the stadium, as she saw that happened to... what happened to Penny. All of this was wrong; it wasn't supposed to happen like this. Penny was gone, Pyrrha was missing, she didn't even want to think about Yang, the robots went crazy… And Jaune´s voice sounded so desperate and terrified in the phone.

"Careful now," stated Weiss in a resolute voice, looking at the dragon-Grimm in the air. "I don't think it noticed us yet, so let's keep it that way."

"We need to get to the top," countered Ruby urgently, "your runes would be the fastest."

"Too flashy," the white-haired girl dismissed the idea, "it would bring that thing over here faster than you could say Grimm."

"I don't think the elevators are working," the rose-haired girl noted dejectedly, pointing at the wrecked entrance and lobby. It was very obvious that there would be no fast automated way to the top.

The Schnee heiress scowled her eyebrows for a second as she looked around. Thoughtful expression on her face shifted into determined as she made up her mind.

"I will draw it´s attention," said Weiss primly and started running sideways from the way they came, "the rest is up to you!" and before Ruby could say another word, her friend was gone, dashing at full speed away from her, and readying Myrtenaster for a fight.

"Alright, time for team RWBY to-" Ruby stopped herself for a second in her victorious pose, "-time for team Ruby to win the day!"

And with those words she sprinted to the base of the tower, used her momentum to run several meters up the wall, and then activated her semblance to get her the rest of the way to the nearest alcove protruding from the building. But she only used it as a stepping stone and jumped even higher, unslinging Crescent Rose from her back and firing several times straight down, adding the recoil to her climb. Only when she was at the top of her flight curve, she used her semblance again to dash yet another few metres to a different ledge and jumped on from there.

As she dashed and climbed her way up the Tower of Beacon, she suddenly became aware of small icy comets arching towards the dragon-Grimm from the ground. They didn't do any damage to the monster, but they got its attention and it immediately shifted its wings to fly towards the source.

Ruby´s stomach clenched even tighter, with the additional fear for her partner. But she had to trust Weiss to take care of herself, her mission now was to make the diversion count. She put all of her strength and ability to the climb, even as she heard deafening angry roars and sounds of building failing.

"Just be alright, Weiss," Ruby mumbled to herself.

 _At the same time…_

To Pyrrha´s surprise, she felt mostly tired and exhausted.

Logically, she knew she should probably feel angry, foolish, sad or scared, even though which one was still undecided. Angry that she failed to stop Cinder? Foolish that she ever thought she could? Sad that she would never get to see her friends and family again? Scared that she was about to die?

But as she knelt, all of her weapons gone, powers exhausted and tricks spent, facing her enemy... she felt only tiredness and emptiness. She guessed it was resignation. She gave it a shot, her best one even. Pyrrha could not remember ever using that much of her powers over metal at a single time, putting that much force into her attacks or swinging her weapons at those speeds. She truly went all out on Cinder, and it was not enough.

Did she truly believe she had a chance? True, she did not know all that much about the powers of the four Maidens, but the stories, and what professor Ozpin and general Ironwood told her, should have given her enough of a picture. Maybe she got overconfident, having not met truly worthy opponent for quite some time of her life – it was not arrogance on her part, Pyrrha thought. She truly thought many of her peers were simply better, more intelligent, more caring, more decisive. Everyone had their field in which they excelled, and hers was simply combat. She loved the training, the finesse, strength and agility it gave her, and she enjoyed the matches most of the time, the complex dance of moves and attacks. Like when she wiped the floor with team CRDL, even though she didn't particularly cared for them as individuals.

But even here, at the elite school of Beacon, one of the best, according to some _the_ best, school for hunters and huntresses, she didn't meet her match in single combat. She could even take _four_ of her fellow students at once, and come out hardly winded. It probably stood to reason that she developed some sort of unwitting arrogance. She knew for sure that she could take half of her teachers in a fair fight, but that did not mean she considered herself wiser, more quick-witted or experienced than them. It was her blind spot, she realised, her weakness. And these last few days hadn't helped that weakness at all, with her head getting filled with ancient powers, prophecies and legends, all knotting up in huge convoluted, confused mess that made her think she could be meant for something large, something more... that all of this was really her destiny.

She looked up over the drawn bow and into Cinder´s eyes, noticing there were tiny specks of tears glistening in them.

She spoke very slowly, softly.

"Do you believe in-"

Her question was interrupted by a deafening roar of the dragon-Grimm. It was so loud the entire tower shook, and Cinder had to balance herself, losing aim for a second.

"What?" the murderess snapped and turned to the side, seeing the creature veering off from the tower as something was attacking it from the ground.

Pyrrha also turned her head and recognized the white missiles; she knew only one person in the Beacon who was skilled enough in their use to produce this many. That meant some of her friends had not tried to get away, and instead ran here... _to help her_.

Suddenly, the exhaustion was gone, along with the empty, resigned feeling, and even though her aura was still gone and she doubted she could lift a teaspoon with her semblance, her muscles tightened once more into steel and got ready for one final burst of speed and strength.

Cinder turned her head back and her eyes hardened, her face turning cold and distant. Pyrrha knew what was coming, but now she was ready to fight it. As she got one leg under her, the healthy one, and started to move away, the woman with glowing red eyes hastily corrected her aim and loosed the arrow.

Pyrrha continued in her jump-dash-roll to the side, suddenly crying painfully at the burning pain in her left shoulder as the impact of the arrow almost knocked her off her feet, but she held onto her consciousness like a lifeline. If she blacked out, she would certainly die, and then who would stop Cinder from harming Weiss, and Ruby, as the rose-haired huntress was probably also nearby.

Pyrrha staggered across the stone roof of the tower and Cinder sent several more arrows at her, but the fiery-haired warrior kept her wits about her enough to make her movements uneven and unpredictable, so all the shots missed her, even though some very closely. As she slid behind a large stone block that offered her cover, she collapsed to her knees in pain, clenching the arrow in her shoulder with the uninjured hand. To her horror, she could not move her left arm at all, she could not even feel anything from it.

Pyrrha tried to control her ragged, painful breathing, but did not succeed as she gasped in pain and frenzy. She had to do something, move, attack, anything. Pain in her shoulder was only growing, burning sensation worsening and she could feel her eyes dimming – she was starting to lose consciousness. With the last of her willpower she gripped the arrow as hard as she could, clenched her teeth and pulled.

She woke up laying on the floor for some reason.

 _I must have blacked out after all_ , Pyrrha thought, _but why am I still alive?_

"You can't hide from me!" she heard Cinder shouting angrily from around the stone block.

 _It must have been only a few seconds!_

Pyrrha got to her knees again, and in the corner of her eye she saw something dark and red on the ground where she lay, also dripping from her shoulder. Blood was not a very common in her world, full of people protected by auras, and the sight shocked her. But that was only for a second, as more of the dragon-Grim roaring startled her into action.

She summoned every ounce of energy she had in her, either left from the fight or the tiny bit that she got back in last few moments, and summoned with polarity a nearby iron rod into her hand as a makeshift weapon. It was no Miló, but it would have to do.

Cinder was coming towards her, she was certain of that, and without her aura even one arrow could kill her, since she doubted her armour would stop Cinder´s arrow at full power. So she managed to draw herself towards the fallen debris she was hiding behind, and then waited, listening to footsteps.

"I could blast you along with this entire tower to pieces!" Cinder bragged, her shouts coming from only a few feet away.

 _Yes, if you can, why don't you?_ Pyrrha thought to herself. _You are exhausted, maybe not as much as me, but you are at your limit._

The fiery-haired warrior waited a few moments more, and then lunged from her hiding place, the iron rod swinging.

She managed to catch Cinder by surprise, but she mistimed her attack – instead of striking Cinder herself, she only hit the bow in her hands, knocking it aside.

Her enemy only snarled, face contorted in rage, hands flying forward in a series of hard physical blows; the fact that her fists were coated in flames didn't help at all. Pyrrha fought as she did so many times before, managed to instinctively block first few punches, even landing two hits on Cinder with the iron rod, but after the third time she stopped the woman´s flaming fists with the rod, it flew to pieces, shattered. Pyrrha then immediately went into hand-to-hand stance and managed to hold her ground for few seconds on pure instinct. For a short while, the air was full of blows and counterblows, but then one, and moment after that two more of Cinder´s punches got through and scored painful, burning hits.

"Pyrrha!"

A new voice entered the combat. Cinder reacted instantly, forsaking the blow to Pyrrha´s stomach that would double her over, and turned to extend her hands towards the new arrival. Sound of several gunshots followed almost immediately, and Cinder seemed to block them with her palms. But in Pyrrha´s head, everything was starting to mesh together and her body was ceasing to listen to her. She wanted to turn her head towards Ruby, for she was sure it was her voice, and maybe shout a warning, or in joy, but her head and mouth were not responding to her commands.

Her hands were still in a combat position, ready to defend her, but suddenly Cinder was several steps from her. Pyrrha staggered, unsure where was up and where was down; she was sure she didn't move, but why was her foe five paces away?

And then all of a sudden Cinder had daggers in her hands and was engaged in close combat with red-caped whirlwind of gunshots and scythe-blades, everything moving so fast that Pyrrha´s eyes could not seem to track it. Only few seconds passed, and then she blinked, and after she opened her eyes once more, Cinder was sitting on the floor, part of her dress pinned to the ground by a huge red scythe, whose muzzle was pointing right in her face.

Pyrrha blinked once more, the image before her becoming clearer, the fog of pain and exhaustion lifting from her mind. Cinder was snarling something at Ruby, who was pointing a gun at her. And before the silver-eyed warrior or the fiery-haired girl could react, Cinder extended one hand at Pyrrha, and a stream of red energy, or flames, flew across the roof of the tower and smashed into the girl, sending her flying off the tower.

The last thing Pyrrha heard was Ruby´s terrified, angry scream.

 _5 minutes earlier…_

Weiss Schnee was regretting her decision to play the bait. Of course she would be the one to end up being chased by the _huge – flying – dragon – Grimm_ , while others would get the easy tasks and all the glory.

 _Stop complaining, Miss Schnee,_ she chided herself, _you wanted to be the best teammate ever, so quit whining and get to work._

When she considered that she put enough distance between herself and the tower, she stopped in the middle of a street and slowly breathed in to calm herself down. Concentration and determination.

Her Myrtenaster started dancing in a complex pattern in front of her, readying the glyph she intended to use. Aiming was not a problem, she could hit a flying Nevermore at the same distance, and this one was far larger and even slower. Not that it would be any advantage for her…

As she unleashed her first barrage of projectiles at the monster, it did not surprise her that it had no visible effect, except maybe mildly irritating it. But it got the job done, the dragon-Grimm turned its wings and swung around to face her, flying low over and into some of the buildings.

Weiss wasn't waiting for it to crush her, eat her or incinerate her – if it could breathe fire at all – and rushed to the side, using hastily conjured glyphs as stepping stones for her jumps. It was a close thing, as the roaring monstrosity made up of black, oozing body, white skeletal carapace and bloody red streaks came crushing down amidst the buildings and streets where Weiss recently stood. She had to dodge several huge chunks of stone in mid-air, hastily conjuring glyphs around her to use as leverages. She also felt her aura diminishing a bit, as smaller stones and bits of glass went flying in every direction, and she couldn't dodge every small piece.

The dragon-Grimm roared in frustration as it tried several times to get at her with its jaws and wings. But Weiss kept dodging and weaving sideways, upwards or downwards. She was way smaller, and that meant she could change directions faster than the colossal beast on her tail.

It would almost be fun, playing this game of cat and mouse, because as long as the mouse had her glyphs, the cat could never hope to catch its prey; it was almost like an acrobatic performance. But Weiss had already fought for almost a full hour during the evacuation of the stadium, and then several times on the way back to the Tower of Beacon. She was getting tired, and the constant use of glyphs meant she had only so much fuel in her left. Dust was not a problem, she packed a full load from her locker, and it wasn't even halfway depleted… but even though using dust with her semblance made it easier and less tiring to conjure glyphs, there were limits.

Then suddenly, she tripped in her dance with the Grimm, and timed one of her jumps a little bit too late – a block of falling structure the size of a house (it _was_ a house, in fact, at least a part of one) smashed into her. Her aura protected her from any lasting damage, but she was momentarily stunned, her concentration wavered and her next glyph that would get her away from the danger, failed.

She landed on the ground, hard, right between the legs of the dragon-Grimm.

The heiress of the Schnee family looked up, and up, and up, meeting the glowing red eyes of the monster. It gave out a weird, staggered rumbling sound, and only after a few seconds Weiss realised that it was _laughing_. Grimm never, ever laughed. They were mindless monsters, avatars of fear and death. They weren't ever supposed to laugh. But, on the other hand, Weiss had to acknowledge, that this was no ordinary Grimm. It was probably capable of such things.

It was also stupid. Taking time to gloat, while your prey is helpless in front of you, was just… just… _unprofessional_. This angry thought helped Weiss clear her mind and concentrate once more. If this rapscallion had the gall to laugh at her in the middle of battle, she would show it how one was supposed to comport oneself during combat.

As the dragon-Grimm finished the scary, rumbling laugh and raised its front paw to smash her into the ground, Weiss had several moments of time to spare, and she used them well.

She got to her feet, crouched a little, and pointed Myrtenaster behind her, conjuring two quick glyphs. Black and white rotating circles on top of each other, two contradicting forces of gravity, coiling like a spring as she willed them apart from one another. It was quickly getting more and more difficult to hold it…

Just before the paw of the dragon-Grimm descended, Weiss Schnee released her hold on the glyphs, and they catapulted her like a bullet forward, at slight angle, into the air. The heiress almost had to stifle a laugh, as she heard a confused sound behind her, coming from the monster, as its prey simply disappeared.

She landed several hundred metres away, but in the same street she started in, managing to slow her descend with several more glyphs. The dragon-Grimm eyed her as she turned to face it once more, seemingly appraising her anew. Just because she felt like it, Weiss sent one quick white missile at its head, to prove a point.

But then her high euphoria from the successful escape faded, and suddenly the look the monster was giving her was positively scary. It would not play this time, it would simply go in and kill her, it seemed to be saying, its eyes gleaming with malice. And she was almost exhausted. Maybe it was time to clear the field – she was certain she could at least run away from it. On the other hand, she needed to distract it for as long as she could, so Ruby would have more time.

She risked a quick glance at the tower. Ruby was nowhere to be seen, so it had to mean she managed to climb to the top. Or maybe she already grabbed Pyrrha and ran away? Damnation, what was Weiss supposed to do now?

It was decided for her, when the dragon-Grimm suddenly raised its head and also turned it to the tower, as if listening. And then it got into the air and flying straight to the centre of the school in one motion so swift that it left Weiss with no doubt that she wouldn't last a second against the monster, if it really put its mind into killing her. There was debris arching behind the place the dragon lifted off, so powerful was its first beat of the wings.

"It would seem this is the time for me to run," Weiss mused, but then pursed her lips tightly and started running and jumping, also towards the tower.

The white-haired girl immediately realised she had no chance of beating the monster to its destination. It was simply way too fast, and could travel in straight line, not jump and weave as she had to. But it seemed to be ignoring her now, even as she tried to get its attention with several missiles of ice.

Their fight pulled them quite a distance from Beacon, as was Weiss´s intention, but now it worked against her. By the time the monster got to the tower, she would be only about halfway there. Much too late to do anything. And she didn't feel like repeating her catapult trick, because it required more concentration and energy than she now felt was left in her.

Still, she sped up and kept using her glyphs with more and more force, propelling herself a bit more than was probably safe. But it was in between two of them, running across a straight roof probably three hundred meters from the tower, when the dragon-Grimm got to the top of the tower, when several things happened at once so fast she had to remember them all after, to put together what happened.

First, there was large gout of flame from the top of the tower, and a person emerged from it, or maybe was pushed by it, into open air, probably hundred and fifty metres above the ground. Even at that distance, Weiss recognized the form of Pyrrha Nikos, her limbs tangling loosely – she was unconscious, and probably out of aura.

Then there was the unmistakable voice of Ruby, screaming on top of her lungs, heard all the way down here. Along with the scream, there was a growing white light coming from the top of the tower, getting stronger as Ruby´s voice was louder and louder.

And third, the dragon-Grimm sank all four of its legs into the structure of the tower, enveloped the very top in its wings and raised its head to strike, most likely at the source of the strange silver light.

All that happened in span of half a second, then the light suddenly flashed so bright that Weiss had to close her eyes. She already knew what she needed to do in next few seconds – so she blindly jumped high into the air, trusted her spatial awareness and fired as many counter-gravitational glyphs as she could, roughly into the area where she suspected Pyrrha would fall. If she were closer, or could aim properly with her eyes, she would use less glyphs and make them stronger, but as it stood, she had to spread more of her power over larger area, so resulting "cushions" would not hold Pyrrha´s fall completely.

After that, her powers spent, she simply curled into a ball and waited for the inevitable impact, hoping her aura would protect her.

 _Ten minutes later…_

"We have to land, general, there´s too much air traffic in the way," spoke the pilot, almost unnecessarily. Everybody could see the number of Grimm flying around the Beacon Academy. There was no way their gunship could make it through.

"Alright, land us down there, and we walk the rest of the way," ordered General Ironwood, pointing over the shoulder of the pilot to a clear place amidst all the ruin around them.

Jaune almost couldn't believe his own eyes. He knew it was bad when he ran through those streets almost an hour before, but seeing it from this height, it was worse. Much worse. Most of the outlying buildings of Beacon Academy were in various state of devastation, the school itself was mostly wrecked, no one structure left untouched, and everywhere he looked, there were Grimm skulking around.

"We move in a small group and run, don't stop for every Grimm we see. Fast in, fast out," said Qrow Branwen, leaning out of the open door of the craft and surveying the landscape.

"No, we need to set up a safe perimeter and then clear a corridor," countered General Ironwood decisively. "If there is ever to be a hope of retaking this school, we must have a bridgehead for resupply and as a fall-back position."

"You ain´t retaking anything," Qrow Branwen´s rasping voice was full of cynicism as he pointed ahead, towards the tower, "with that thing right in the centre of Beacon."

Jaune looked in the direction the young shabby man was pointing and his knees almost gave out. A huge Grimm in the form of dragon, the one he saw only at a distance before, clung to the top of the tower, its head raised to attack and wings enveloping most of the upper third of the structure.

 _And that's where Pyrrha went to fight,_ he realised and gulped.

"Why isn't it moving?" wondered General Ironwood in a quiet voice and when Jaune looked at him, he seemed a bit more pale than usual.

"I don't know," replied Qrow in a suspicious tone, "but if it was any danger to us, it would have moved already. It hardly could have missed the noise this thing makes," he added, nodding towards the airship.

"You said miss Nikos went to the top of that tower?" the general turned to Jaune.

"That's where Cinder was," replied the young man in a wavering voice.

"Then let's go, I´m not getting any younger," Mr Qrow tapped his foot impatiently, his weapon ready.

"Alright then," the general gestured to his soldiers and everybody got out on the ground. "Your way it is, Qrow, fast in, fast out. Pilot, lift up and wait at a safe distance, we will signal you where to pick us up."

Jaune felt very small and insignificant in this group, the rescue party they hastily put together. General Ironwood was organizing the surviving soldiers and helping the evacuation from the docking platform, and as soon as Jaune told him what happened, where Pyrrha went, he picked eight of his men in best condition, commandeered the nearest airship and everybody got on-board. The sergeant in charge tried to keep Jaune from coming with them, and they were both arguing, when General Ironwood walked by and simply stated that Jaune was coming, and that was that.

Just before they lifted off, Qrow Branwen appeared out of nowhere and got on-board. He and Ironwood simply exchanged looks and both turned their eyes forward, to Beacon. And so it ended up that Jaune Arc was running in a group of hardened soldiers and two elite huntsmen.

General Ironwood was in front with his pistol raised and clearing any Grimm small enough to be taken down by its fire; Qrow Branwen was at his side, engaging the larger ones occasionally. The soldiers were watching the sides, using their rifles to keep anything from coming close. That probably left Jaune as a rear guard, but he had his hands, or rather legs, full just by keeping up with them, to worry about Grimm behind them. They were moving fast enough that so far nothing caught up with them, and Jaune noticed that closer to Beacon they got, fewer of the monsters they encountered.

"Over there, a civilian!" shouted the sergeant when they were only several hundred metres from the tower, and Jaune saw him pointing at a nearby ruined building. A small, white-clad figure was sprawled limply on a piece of roof that slid to the pavement. It was a bit raised, so they could see her easily, and streets were clear enough that no Grimm in vicinity could threaten them.

"It's Miss Schnee," said the general when they ran closer, confirming Jaune´s suspicion. When they got to her, Ironwood and Jaune knelt over her, while others kept watch, and the general checked her vitals.

"She seems to be unharmed," he observed, waving his hand over her gently, "but her aura is almost gone."

"Unhand me, you impudent little-" Weiss suddenly swatted his hand away and opened her eyes, then visibly stiffened as she realised where she was.

"Oh my! I am so sorry, general," she started. "I didn't-"

"I see your tongue wasn't harmed in this fight," General Ironwood smiled warmly, and Jaune had a distinct feeling that was not a usual sight, "are you in any pain, Miss Schnee?"

"No, I think," she said uncertainly and tried to sit up.

"Where is Pyrrha, Weiss?" demanded Jaune, who couldn't hold on any longer.

"Oh my!" Weiss´s eyes widened as she turned to him and instead of sitting up, she almost jumped to her feet, "she… the height! I hope I managed to slow her down enough!"

The Schnee heiress was turning in the direction of a nearby courtyard at the foot of the tower and tried to run, but stumbled after a few steps.

"What?" asked the general, as he and the others followed the white-haired girl, helping her along. "What happened here?" But Jaune had a sinking feeling he already could guess, and by the look on his face, so could Mr Branwen.

"Ruby went to help Pyrrha, and I distracted the dragon…wait, where is it? We need to hide!" Weiss looked up and answered her own question in a terrified little squeak.

"It's no danger to anyone right now," Mr Branwen assured her, "someone put it down, probably for good. But you said Ruby went after Cinder?"

"Well, it looked like Pyrrha was still fighting her at top of the tower, but the dragon…" Weiss uncertainly looked at the frozen monster once more, like she expected it to fall down any second now, "the dragon was circling around, so I got it to come after me and lured it away, but then… then it suddenly decided to return to the tower."

"We have a theory that Cinder could have had some sort of influence over it," General Ironwood nodded thoughtfully. "Go on, Miss."

"Then there were bright flashes, and Pyrrha was thrown from the tower," as soon as she said it, Jaune felt the ground under his feet giving away, and felt like he was falling. Only Weiss´s next words kept him from sinking to his knees. "So I conjured as many gravity glyphs as I could in her path, to slow her down. I just hope it was enough…"

"What happened then?" asked Qrow, when Weiss trailed off.

"Well, this blinding, silver light-"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed as they all rounded one corner, he and Weiss with Qrow supporting her in the lead, and he saw sprawled, motionless form of red and gold, lying on her stomach, perhaps thirty paces in front of them.

He immediately sprinted forward, his mind already playing the worst scenario in his head. Was she dead? She couldn't be dead, after all this effort everyone put into helping her. Someone even took out that dragon-Grimm so that it wouldn't harm her. She had to be alive!

As he skidded to her side, he saw a quite large pool of blood around her, but at a first glance there were not any visible injuries. He reached over and turned her around – she was dirty, and partly covered in blood, yet it was immediately clear that she didn't impact the ground at a fatal speed, as he could see only light scratches on her. At least that was good news. But his eyes instantly fixated on her bloodied shoulder and several swollen and singed red bruises on her arms; in spite of his panic, or maybe because of it, he recognized the injuries of someone who was in a fistfight, having himself been at the receiving end of several.

"Do you have a medkit?" he frantically asked the sergeant, when the rest of the group caught up to him, and General Ironwood knelt beside him.

"Yes, si-" the soldier caught himself, but then handed over a small bag with medical symbol on it. "Yes, lad, I have."

Jaune immediately opened the package and laid it beside him. He hadn´t noticed Ironwood´s surprised glance at him, or the general´s hands, as they withdrawn from the kit where they expected to start the work.

In his mind, Jaune was simply back in one of his First Aid classes, and his hands worked steadily and effectively, if a bit frantically. The wound was not bleeding heavily, so _first thing is to sterilise it_. There was a cloth and tincture exactly for that purpose in the medical bag. _Then make sure there aren't any foreign objects in the wound_ – alright, as much as he hated doing it, he examined the gaping hole in Pyrrha´s shoulder, even prodding it a bit with his fingers. It didn't elicit any response from her, which was a bit worrying, but he also didn't find anything.

He thought he heard General Ironwood shouting something, maybe Mr Branwen´s name among other things, but it didn't matter now. _After that, you need to use the curative patch, if you have any on hand_ ; luckily, the soldier´s medkit was well equipped. _And then wrap the injury tightly with bandages, to prevent it from bleeding. Don't use too much force, so you won´t choke the limb_. Jaune was aware of some other hands that helped him lift Pyrrha into sitting position so that he could bandage her shoulder properly.

All of that took only about a minute, and the entire time Jaune was working simply as an automaton, doing what needed to be done, remembering all the details from the lectures, but his mind was simply disconnected, refusing to process any emotion right now, ignoring the limpness of her body as he lifted her to sit for a few seconds. First, he needed to save her, and Ruby, come to think of it, since she was also missing now... That thought, together with having finished bandaging his fiery-headed teammate, woke him up from his trance.

He looked around, and found out to his surprise it was Weiss who was helping him bandage Pyrrha. General Ironwood was intently watching the tower, and rest of the soldiers were in a loose circle around them all, watching with their weapons raised.

"She will be alright, Jaune," Weiss told him, in a rather calming tone, leaning over Pyrrha and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks," mumbled Jaune, "And thank you for coming back for her."

"Well, we couldn't leave any of our friends behind, now could we?" Weiss withdrew her hand and eyed him a bit sternly.

Jaune felt his lips twitch in a lopsided smile. He had a funny relationship with Miss Schnee. At first, he judged her only based on her looks, and knew well where that got him. Then, once he had his eyesight set straight by his friends (and mostly by _finally_ noticing a certain fiery-headed girl now lying right in front of him; he could still kick himself for being so dense), he finally was able to see how uptight, judgemental and stiff Weiss Schnee was… But that was also only an imperfect view. He started to suspect, and events of this evening only confirmed it, that she could be also caring, helpful and loyal.

"Well, of course you couldn't," he grinned, and saw something similar playing on Weiss´s lips.

After that, Jaune drew a deep breath, gathered his courage and looked at Pyrrha´s face. So far, he avoided studying her expression deliberately, for fear of what he would see there. Would it be sadness? Emptiness? Excruciating pain?

But as he shifted his eyes, he saw that she simply appeared to be sleeping, almost peacefully. Her eyes were closed, mouth slightly parted, hair stretching over her nose and cheeks haphazardly, and her chest was rising and falling in a steady rhythm what didn't sound at all forced or painful. It reminded him of when she was sleeping in their dormitory, except then she didn't wore her headband.

Not that he was ever looking at her when she slept. Especially not since the ball, definitely not. At all. Because… that would be creepy.

Her expression calmed him quite a bit. She would really be alright now… That brought up next thing on his list of priorities.

"Where´s Ruby?" he asked Weiss, who was now simply sitting on the other side of Pyrrha, looking towards the sky.

"Probably still up there," she answered, pointing and her nose crinkled in disgust. "That dingy hunter went up there to look."

"You know he´s her uncle, right?"

"He might be, but he is still an amoral, foul, loathsome drunkard, that should- RUBY!" Weiss´s tirade was interrupted by very un-ladylike shriek, when Mr Branwen suddenly descended from the sky and landed few paces from them, unconscious Ruby Rose in his arms.

"Is she alright? What happened to her? Why is she unconscious? Do you have her Crescent Rose? Is she injured?" the Schnee heiress was immediately at the older man´s side, worried questions flying out of her like a steady stream.

"Relax, kid," Mr Branwen´s steady, unconcerned voice stopped her, "she´s gonna be alright. Just needs some sleep and she´ll be up and running in no time."

"What happened up there?" asked General Ironwood intently, after he gestured to several of his men who began assembling something out of their backpacks.

"We don't have to worry ´bout that thing bothering anyone anymore," Mr Branwen nodded his head towards the frozen dragon-Grimm. Jaune looked from Ruby towards him just in time to notice a significant look that the shabby hunter was giving the general, conveying some hidden meaning.

General Ironwood opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped himself and looked around, his eyes scanning the soldiers, Weiss and Jaune himself.

"Do we know about anyone else left stranded in this school?" he asked after a beat, directing the question towards his sergeant.

"From what we gathered, all of the students were accounted for last time we did headcount at the evac area," answered the soldier, "except these four, of course."

"What about professor Ozpin?" asked Jaune, remembering the last time he saw the white-haired man, facing Cinder in the dungeons of the school, his face serious and deadly as Jaune had never seen.

There was a moment of silence following the question, with Jaune and Weiss looking from Ironwood to Branwen expecting answers, but not getting any.

"I think we´ll have to do without Oz for a while," stated Mr Branwen after a long moment.

"What do you mean?" demanded Weiss indignantly. "What happened to him? If he is missing, we need to go find him."

"Men, get these two on stretchers, we are leaving," ordered General Ironwood. "Miss Schnee, we have a stretcher to spare, if you prefer."

"I can move on my own, thank you," puffed the heiress and crossed her arms.

The general simply nodded, and then everyone got busy laying Pyrrha and Ruby on the stretchers the soldiers put together. Jaune helped fasten the belts around Pyrrha, so she wouldn't fall out, and then picked up one set of handles, the other end being held up by a burly soldier.

They started at a hard pace again, and for the first minute or so, Weiss kept pestering General Ironwood for answers, but after a while she couldn´t catch her breath, and in another minute she was half sitting, half laying on top of Ruby´s stretcher. And it was kind of difficult to demand answers when you were carried like a casualty.

The Grimm kept getting more and more thick as they progressed, but before they even had to slow down, their skies cleared enough. They stopped in the first flat place they could find, the general used a signal rocket to call their gunship, which arrived in no time, and soon they were all sitting or lying in its cargo space.

Jaune sat in one corner of the open compartment, his legs dangling in the air, Weiss across from him, her hair and skirt flying in the wind, Pyrrha and Ruby still in their stretchers between them, unconscious but very much alive. General Ironwood and Mr Branwen were on the other side, but none of them was saying anything. In fact, the entire gunship was quiet, everyone tired, spent, and simply watching the devastation passing under them. Some buildings were still burning, Grimm were running through the streets, and once proud school for hunters, the Beacon Academy, kept getting smaller and smaller and also darker and darker, whether it was just night setting in, or some dark aura of the frozen monster on top of the tower. It was all gone.

The silence broke only when Weiss spoke in a small voice.

"What happens now?"


	2. The Next Morning

Chapter II - The Next Morning

Nora Valkyrie woke up feeling so tired, she almost decided to go to sleep again. She always liked to sleep in on the weekends, and get up only when the others were already leaving for breakfast. Especially if it was Ren´s turn to cook, because that meant _pancakes_ …

A lazy, happy smile appeared on Nora´s face at the thought of Ren´s cooking. Her bed was so comfortable… she stretched slowly, arching her back and sticking her feet out from the covers.

"Good morning, Nora," said a voice on her left, one she knew very well.

"Good morning, Ren," she replied automatically and got ready to open her eyes, when she realised Ren´s voice came from the left, and froze. Why would that be, when his bed was supposed to be on her right?

Then it all came crashing down on her, as she remembered everything that happened at the stadium, and after. Penny. The Grimm. Pyrrha. Ren, and everybody else.

She shot into a sitting position like a spring, and looked around, panicked. Where was she? And where was Pyrrha and Jaune? What did she hear about Yang? And was Ren alright? He was, probably. She remembered him sitting exhaustedly near her. Any what happened to the school? What was that huge flying Grimm up in the sky? Did everyone get out safely?

"Yes, Nora, everyone is safe," answered Ren´s calming voice, and Nora realised she was probably voicing her questions aloud.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around. Her bed was in a huge room, containing several dozens of such bunks, each one occupied. Ren was sitting, fully clothed, in the one next to her.

"Emergency sleeping quarters in Vale docks," replied her friend, "they had to find enough room for everyone to sleep, so they cleared out several warehouses and put together every bed or mattress they could find."

As Nora continued to examine her surroundings, she indeed saw that some of the people were lying simply in sleeping bags or on large mattresses on the ground.

"What about Jaune and Pyrrha? Did they find them?" she asked, inquisitively.

"Both are fine," Ren answered her with his small smile, "Pyrrha was injured, and will probably take some time to heal fully, but she´ll be fine. She´s in the building next door, with the rest of the people who got hurt. Jaune didn't want to leave her side, so he is sleeping there too."

"That sounds… promising for those two," she couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Yes, so I gathered," replied Ren simply in a neutral voice, but Nora could hear his approval hidden under it.

She sighed a bit, only on the inside, of course. _Practice what you preach_ , she told Pyrrha, and the way she and Jaune were circling around each other these last few days, her friend probably finally took her advice, but Nora knew those words applied to herself, too… but that was nothing to dwell upon right now.

"And others?"

"Ruby and Weiss weren´t wounded badly, but they still put them both to the makeshift hospital. The last I heard, they were still sleeping, like certain someone I know," Ren´s dry tone couldn't be ever called sarcastic, but only just.

"Hey, I saved your skin in that fight," Nora said indignantly.

"And I am eternally grateful," Ren bowed his head, tone serious, and then continued. "Blake was also injured, but will recover in time. But Yang…"

"The arm?" asked Nora quietly.

"Yes," Ren simply nodded.

There was a long pause. Nora knew she couldn't imagine what it would mean for Yang. Losing an entire arm like that. Yes, she could get a robotic prosthesis, but it would probably never be the same. Of course, if she managed to install a grenade-launcher into it… that probably sounded better than mere flesh and bone, but so few people appreciated the beauty of proper firepower. She had a suspicion that, in time, Yang would certainly see the potential for upgrade in this, but for now… oh well.

"Then let's go visit them!" Nora exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms up in the air victoriously, flinging the covers off of her, only to realise she was shouting – still in her pyjamas – in a room full of people. She immediately curled herself into a small ball, her legs pulled up to her nose, and hugging them with all her strength.

"Ren…" she began in a scared whisper, "they are all staring at me."

"That would be because you just woke half of them up," stated Ren unconcernedly, picked up her covers and threw them over her. After a short while, he slipped Nora´s clothes under the pile of blankets, and added: "You should change, Nora, if we want to visit our friends."

There was only a small inarticulate sound, coming from under the blanket, and then it started moving and stretching, as Nora Valkyrie dressed.

* * *

They got ready, packed their weapons and whatever gear they had on them, and left the warehouse.

"First, where´s Jaune and Pyrrha?" asked Nora when she saw the number of people mingling among the warehouses. From the looks of it, maybe six or more building were converted into sleeping quarters, the entire part of the docks converted into emergency refugee camp for everyone who had no roof over their heads right now. The number of people walking around was astounding, it looked like a half of Vale was living here at the moment, even though it was just after sunrise.

"It´s this way," pointed Ren towards the building opposite of theirs with huge medical symbol hung over its entrance.

They got several suspicious looks from the guards – Ironwood´s soldiers – but once they introduced themselves, they were let inside without problem. It also took them a while to find their way in the maze of hastily built walls and portable screens. It took several minutes before they found their teammates.

It was a small room, if you could call it a room with walls made of paper and cloth in iron frames, held together by sockets. But it seemed to block sound well enough, since they could only sometimes hear muffled conversations, and it gave one certain privacy, and that had to be enough.

There were two beds in the small space, both occupied. Pyrrha lay in the more comfortable and hospital-y looking, which had several appliances connected to it, and monitors on them showed numbers and graphs, none of which Nora understood. Jaune was sleeping in a simple bunk, not unlike the ones in which Ren and Nora spent their night. To Nora, they both were sleeping like little angels, if maybe Jaune´s angel was a little bit worried, and Pyrrha´s a tiny bit exhausted. But it could also be the fact that Jaune wasn´t much comfortable, still wearing his armour, jacket and jeans, in contrast to Pyrrha, who was clothed in loose light-blue pyjamas.

"Come on, Nora," Ren laid his hand on her shoulder just before she decided to jump in joy and start yelling at them to wake up, "they had a hard night, maybe we could show some discretion."

"You´re no fun," grumbled Nora, walked up to Jaune´s bed, jumped on his legs and spoke in a mild, not-at-all-yelling voice: "Wake up, oh our fearless leader."

"Whhaaaa!" Jaune´s startled yell certainly was loud, as he tried to get out of the bed, only to find his legs pinned by Nora´s weight. Ren only rolled his eyes, and sat himself delicately on Pyrrha´s bed, careful not to disturb her.

"We come to visit," he stated stoically.

"Owww," Jaune groaned, "my legs. Nora, could you please get up? You weigh a ton."

"Is that a comment about my figure?" asked the girl in question, dangerously pointing a fully loaded finger at the boy. Ren rolled his eyes, again, even though his lips were curved in an almost invisible smile.

"What? No, of course not," Jaune defended himself, "I´m just saying that you are very heavy!" Ren closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable sound of a fist connecting to a face, but surprisingly none came.

"I can´t even make fun of you," Nora sighed, "it´s because of this hospital. I think I wouldn't even be able to ridicule one of Yang´s lame puns, and that girl learned from the best. Or the worst, depends on how you look at it…" not that she would probably be hearing any more of those in coming days. Poor Yang.

Nora lost her energy as fast as she gained it, and fell silent for a while, so it was up to Ren to pick up after her.

"What happened yesterday? And how is Pyrrha?" he asked. "We only saw you returning and heard you were both alive, but not much more than that."

Jaune looked over at the still unconscious body of his teammate. Even their loud antics hadn't woken her. All the displays still showed no change whatsoever.

"The doctor said she´ll be fine," he finally answered in a quiet voice, not exactly worried, but not calm either. "Her shoulder and foot were injured, and she probably hit her head pretty hard, but other than that, she´s alright. Only needs rest, they said she should wake up today, probably."

"Probably?" asked Ren.

"The doctor who treated her when we arrived said head-injuries could be tricky," explained Jaune. "There´s a small chance she might have problems waking up. Could take weeks, maybe months."

"But it won´t come to that," declared Nora loudly, suddenly in high spirits again, "not with our Pyrrha. She´ll be up and kicking your ass in training tomorrow afternoon."

"She certainly will," added Ren with a confident nod.

"Thanks, guys," Jaune smiled at them.

"So, what happened next?" reminded him Nora. "Did you have to fight a dragon to save her? Or some arch-villain? Did you have a white horse?"

"Where would he get a white horse, Nora?" asked Ren reasonably, then added: "Although, I did saw a dragon at Beacon last night."

"I didn't have to fight in the end," started Jaune the explanation. "Ruby took out that dragon-Grimm, it seems."

"Really?" asked Ren and Nora in unison.

"So everybody says," shrugged Jaune. "I wasn't there. We went to help Ozpin with… I don't know, some important stuff he had in his basement, but he sent us back, said he would handle it, and so we ran.

Only, after we got clear of the school, Cinder, the one who was fighting Ozpin, came out of the building. She probably defeated the professor," Jaune hung his head for a second, and Nora exchanged worried glances with Ren. "Then Pyrrha decided to confront her on her own. She… she told me goodbye, stuffed me into a locker and sent me to the other side of the Vale. That´s when I called you guys, but you didn't answer. So I tried Ruby, and she said she and Weiss were going to help Pyrrha. After that, I found General Ironwood, and he gathered several soldiers and we all took an airship back to the school.

We found Weiss unconscious, but she woke up pretty soon," Jaune smirked, probably at some memory. "Then Pyrrha, down at the courtyard. Weiss told us she saw her failing from the tower, and slowed her fall with glyphs, that's where she hit her head," he gestured towards their unconscious teammate. "Then Mr Branwen, he was with us for the rescue, brought Ruby from the top of the tower. He and General Ironwood seemed to think that it was Ruby who froze the huge dragon-Grimm in the middle of the school… I don't know.

And after that, we all went back, flew to the docks and doctors came to us and… here we are."

There was a moment of silence, soon broken by Nora.

"Well, except for the five million details that you will tell us later, you missed the most important part," Nora leaned in to Jaune, so that only a few centimetres separated them, her grin wide and her eyes gleaming. "Did. You. Kiss?"

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos woke up to probably the most embarrassing question she ever heard in her life.

"Did. You. Kiss?" spoke the voice of Nora, her teammate.

Her next emotion was something between indignation and horror. The horror part was because the question connected her to all the events of the last day, every mistake and sorrow she made and endured.

The indignation part was because she felt she deserved at least several seconds of blissful ignorance. Did Nora really _had_ to throw all of it at her right at as she woke up? She might have slowly remembered all of the things that happened, ease into it, as if walking gradually into a lake, one step at a time. Not jumping right into the deep end as a cannonball. Leave it to Nora to push her off the edge like that.

"I… erm… well…" Jaune obviously wasn't going to answer that question coherently. He must have been blushing quite profoundly right now, and part of her wished she had her eyes open, so that she could see it. He could be really adorable when blushing.

"Ooooh, you did!" Nora evidently drawn her own conclusions. "How was it? Was there tongue? How long it lasted? Did she grab your head, or neck? Or maybe your a-"

"Nora!" Ren interrupted her hastily, and she could feel him shifting on her bed. "You´re embarrassing our patient!"

"What?" both Nora and Jaune yelped in unison, and Pyrrha knew she had been discovered.

"I recommend a change of topic, Pyrrha is getting quite red in her face," Ren explained.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune´s voice was coming from much closer than before.

She tried her hardest to open her eyes, but succeeded only partially, opening one of them for a tiny bit, but that would probably suffice for now. She could make out three silhouettes hovering above her, each head coloured differently. Yellow, orange and black with violet streaks.

"Hello, guys," she spoke quietly, managing a weak smile at the people around her. Everyone was alright. They waited for her to wake up, and she guessed from the sounds that some of them probably slept in the same room. _Friendships to last a lifetime indeed…_ Her eyes started to water at seeing her team like this.

"Pyrrhaaa!" Nora shouted at the top of her lungs and prepared to lunge bodily at her, only to be stopped in mid-air by Ren, who caught her by the collar and pulled the enthusiastic girl back.

"How are you feeling?" asked Jaune, his grin wide. She was not sure, with only one eye and that full of tears, but it seemed to her that he was a bit teary too.

"Tired," she answered, still weakly. Speaking was not difficult, but she had to make an effort to move her muscles. Like after a hard workout, only her entire body felt that way. "Shoulder hurts. Also foot."

"Doctors said that the tiredness is usual with hunters that had a hard fight and drained all of their reserves," Jaune explained, and Pyrrha only now realised he had one of his hands over hers, holding it gently. "You should recover your strength in a day or so, now that you woke up. Or so they said."

"I´ll let you know when it starts," she spoke weakly, but felt that if she put her mind to it she could form longer sentences without exhausting herself.

"What happened? How did I get here? And what of Ruby? I saw her at the top of that tower..." she hoped her friend hadn't gotten hurt defending her. "I remember falling-" her eyes widened, "-how did I survive that?"

"That was Weiss," explained Jaune, and quickly told her what he remembered from the last night, and what they gathered from Weiss. That still left Ruby´s story though.

"I saw Ruby fighting Cinder," supplied Pyrrha when he finished. She hadn´t felt like getting up from her bed yet, but still managed to keep both her eyes open comfortably and speaking was getting easier with practice. "She came in at the last second. She managed to corner her and tried to make her surrender, I think, but Cinder threw those flames at me and that pushed me off, and I don't remember anything else."

"You said Cinder was exhausted," Ren said thoughtfully, "so it stands to reason that Ruby took her down quickly, but I am not sure about that dragon-Grimm."

"You said Weiss saw some blinding white light," shrugged Nora, "maybe that was it."

"I never heard of any semblance doing anything like that," countered Ren.

"Maybe it wasn't semblance," Nora didn't let up, "maybe-"

"General Ironwood and Mr Branwen knew something," spoke Jaune in a rather quiet and startlingly intense voice. "They were looking at each other, and I could tell there was something that they didn't want to talk about in front of us. They´re keeping secrets."

At those words, Pyrrha felt her stomach drop.

"You mean about Ruby?" asked Nora in a whisper.

"Probably," Jaune shrugged, unsure, "maybe… I don't know."

Ren and Nora exchanged concerned glances and Pyrrha lowered her eyes, but no one spoke for a while.

"I do not know anything about that, specifically," Pyrrha broke the silence, and her tone was almost sad, "but I have something I should have told you guys, all of you. I am sorry, I should not have kept it from you before, and-"

"You don't have to, Pyrrha," Jaune interrupted her hurriedly, "I didn't mean that at you. If you don't want to-"

"It is alright, Jaune," she smiled, glad that he was so accepting, but that didn't diminish her mistake in keeping everything from her friends. "I _want_ to tell you, and probably should have told you in the first place. I was not sure it was my place to reveal anything to you, but now I am certain."

"But…" Jaune began, his expression thoughtful, forming his words, "could you maybe wait at least a little bit, before you drop it on us? Right now, I feel worried out for at least whole week in advance."

"Alright," nodded Pyrrha happily, "it can wait, we can talk this evening."

"Whatever it is, we will help you," said Ren in a serious tone, laying his hand on her shoulder, his simple statement carrying enormous meaning.

"Yeee!" Nora squealed and pumped her fist, teeth flashing. "And I hope we will break somebody´s legs doing it!"

"Why would be need to-?" Jaune began, confused.

"Mind her not, for she is but a simple woman, used only to toil with her vast hammer," Ren held up a hand, forestalling everyone´s questions.

"Heyyyy," Nora pouted indignantly, but then crocked her head, "I do have a large hammer, though."

Jaune and Pyrrha laughed, quickly joined by Nora and Ren.

* * *

Not long after that, they got a visit from doctor Mirquez, a middle-aged man with greying hair and piercing blue eyes. He asked Pyrrha various questions about her body, movement or pain, and played for a bit with the monitors next to her bed. After that, he confirmed Jaune´s words that she should recover her strength quickly, and added that her injuries were not serious, but still worth some concern. It seemed that Cinder´s arrows were made of some sort of unusual material, and had been scorching hot when she fired them. Pyrrha´s wounds had some serious burns around and inside them; that had been a mixed blessing, as it stopped her from bleeding out, but the damage to muscles and internal tissue was larger than it looked at first glance. Her calf injury wasn't big, but it was in a much more critical spot than her shoulder wound. Several key tendons and muscles were torn or burnt, and needed time to heal.

The good doctor informed her that she should avoid putting any weight on her foot for at least several weeks, only walking with crutches, and after that she would have to use a cane for month or two. It was similar with her left arm; for now it was put in a splint all the way from her shoulder to her wrist and hung on a sling, none of which was supposed to be removed for at least three weeks or more. The only good thing was that she had injured her _right_ leg and _left_ arm, which meant she could still use crutch with her right hand and would have some mobility, even though the doctor still recommended use of a wheelchair, which he quickly provided.

The entire visit didn't take all that long and Dr Mirquez quickly departed, wishing Pyrrha a nice day and promising to check up on her in the evening or the next day. He was obviously overworked, which wasn't any surprise when one considered the size of the emergency medical ward.

After that, Nora proclaimed she wanted to visit Ruby and Weiss, or find out where they were, at least. Pyrrha was ready to bid them all goodbye, for at least a while, but Nora simply nudged the wheelchair towards the bed and looked expectantly towards Jaune and Ren.

The two boys, with some assistance from Pyrrha herself, quickly manoeuvred her into it and they all set off, Pyrrha rolling in the middle of them and Jaune pushing. She felt a bit ashamed… well, a lot ashamed of her disability, as she found out during the transition from the bed to the wheelchair that she barely had strength to move her legs or arms. It was almost humiliating to be moved around like a doll. Not that she minded the boys – Ren was like a brother to her, after a year of living in the same dorm, and the way Jaune was so careful to touch on the ´safe´ areas of her body almost got her to laugh out loud – but she still felt so powerless. It reminded her too much of the moments she knelt disarmed in front of Cinder with a drawn bow, her mind giving up on hope.

"Are you sure you´re ready for this?" asked Jaune worriedly, probably after seeing her expression at that thought.

"Of course, Jaune," she answered, shook her head to clear her mind of such depressing thoughts and smiled at the blonde boy. She was here with her friends, and that meant she was not powerless.

The search for Ruby and Weiss took them quite a while, and complicated even more after they lost Nora in the maze of ward rooms and corridors. The orange-haired girl had too much energy and couldn't keep the pace with Jaune, who refused to run around, pushing injured Pyrrha at dangerous speeds. Ren managed to get her back at first, but after the fifth time their friend simply disappeared, and now they were looking after Nora too, in addition of Ruby and Weiss. Ren was starting to fret and dash around a bit too.

"Jaune! Pyrrha! I found them!" came Nora´s voice after a while, and Ren immediately sprinted in that direction.

When the other pair got there, ironically to a room not that far from Pyrrha´s, Ren was panting and holding onto Nora´s jacket with his fist. "Don't… again… again…" he wheezed.

"Right inside, come on," gestured Nora and disappeared inside a door, dragging the poor boy behind her.

Jaune and Pyrrha in her wheelchair followed her, and found themselves in the typical setting, a small space with two beds, both occupied, walls made of cloth and several appliances in the back of the room.

"Nora!" came in Weiss´s voice from ahead, "and what happened to you, Ren? Is there still some fighting?"

"No fighting," answered Jaune, laughing, "looking after Nora can be tiring enough."

"Jaune, you are awake, good. How is… Pyrrha?" the eyes of the Schnee heiress bulged out at the sight of the fiery-haired warrior.

"It is you!" Weiss jumped out of her bed, covers flying, and came to stand before them. She made an abortive gesture that seemed like an official bow, then handshake, then an attempt to tackle the poor girl, and in the end hugged her friend from the uninjured side, kneeling beside the wheelchair to do so. "You´re really alive, I wasn't sure I used enough glyphs, and then maybe I used too much and they were weak, and… I am glad you´re alive."

"So am I," nodded the young woman in question and hugged back with one arm.

"We´re all fine, how are you two?" asked Nora as she flopped down on Ruby´s bunk, as she was of course the other occupant of the room, dressed in her pyjamas and sleeping like a rock. "Ruby seems sleepy as usual."

"Doctors said she will not be waking up for a while," answered Weiss, sitting down on her own bed. Ren moved Nora a bit to the side, to make more room, and Jaune settled next to Weiss, Pyrrha´s chair parked at an angle to the both beds, so she could see them all without straining her neck. "I don't know what happened on the top of that tower, but if Ruby really took out that dragon-Grimm, it must have been difficult. That rascal of a huntsman said she will not wake up for several days, but what does he know…" the heiress sniffed disdainfully.

After that followed the inevitable exchange of stories and piecing together events of the last night, from everyone´s perspective. They were very surprised and impressed by Weiss´s running fight with the huge Grimm, and worried by the fact it was capable of laughter. They also thanked her several times for saving Pyrrha´s life with her glyphs; the snow-haired girl took it in stride, waving it off as the least she could do, but Pyrrha could tell she was proud of her skill and ability.

"I´m just glad I was there to help," she said in the end, her cheeks blushing pink.

"Have you heard anything about the others?" asked Ren. "I saw Yang and Blake only last night as they brought them in."

"They are both next door," said Weiss, "but still unconscious. Blake had that stab wound in her belly, and Yang, well… you know."

"Know what?" asked Jaune confusedly, Pyrrha also looking around uncomprehendingly. "I hadn't seen her last night, what happened?"

"She and Blake got tangled with the White Fang, some of their elite members…" Weiss got up, walked to one of the cloth walls of the room and pulled it aside easily, revealing two beds pushed together. Blake and Yang lay side by side in them, Blake with most of her torso in bandages, and Yang´s injury painfully obvious.

"By the dust," escaped Pyrrha´s lips as she saw the missing arm. And here she thought they all managed to escape last night battle without any lasting damage. And it probably was not the arm that was the worst. It was Yang´s face – her features were always so full of life and power, eyes burning with passion, hair flying and mouth smirking. Pyrrha only now realised that the vitality and energy made up so much of her personality, and seeing it all absent now… Without it she looked fragile, weak and afraid, and seeing her like that almost broke Pyrrha´s heart.

Blake beside her was almost complete opposite. She was usually the one hiding her emotion behind calm mask, and not giving much away, but her face, even in her sleep, had an angry scowl, and her cat ears twitched from time to time, almost as if she was fidgeting restlessly.

"Yeah," Weiss whispered softly, walking to the side of the bed and raising her hand, as if to place it on Yang´s shoulder comfortingly, but pulling it back quickly. From her angle, Pyrrha could see the heiress´s expression, and it was so tender and vulnerable, she suddenly felt as if she was witnessing something private, and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

But Weiss shook her head quickly, as if waking up from something, and turned to them. "Well, I can certainly see to it that she receives top of the line replacement," she declared. "I´ll have words with the right people, and Atlas´s best will be here in no time."

"I just hope she can cope without it in the meantime," said Jaune, voicing Pyrrha´s own thoughts. "This won´t be easy on her."

Weiss walked back to her own room and pulled the curtain-wall back in the place, separating them from their sleeping friends. "That's what we are for," Weiss stated confidently, with a hint of posh, "we´ll be there for her and support her, as friends should."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, unfortunately," said a new voice from the door, and everyone jumped.

General Ironwood stood in the doorframe, wearing a new, albeit more worn out uniform, his arms crossed, watching all of them.

"General!" all of them yelped and everyone stood up; only Pyrrha gave it up after confirming she still could not move her legs, bar few twitches.

"I´m afraid I have some unfortunate news for all of you, so I would recommend sitting," he spoke in a solemn voice, "and I also carry a message for Miss Schnee. And I´d like to talk to Miss Nikos alone, if she´s willing."

"What´s up?" asked Nora. "It is something about the festival? I guess it will probably be cancelled now, right?"

"The Vytal festival fell apart yesterday evening," said the general, "that much is true. Most of the students from other schools are leaving as soon as they can. No one is using the word _evacuation_ , but... the festival is definitely over.

And it´s much worse, I´m afraid," his deep voice didn't carry much tone, but Pyrrha could hear the sadness and sense of defeat coming from him. "The Beacon Academy is ceasing its function. It´s a temporary measure for now, but so far nobody knows what will come in the future."

"You are closing the school?" asked Weiss, horrified. Nora and Ren just bulged their eyes out and Pyrrha noticed their hands seeking each other as they sat on the bed. She knew what the school meant to them, and also to her. What will become of them? Will they have to leave for their homes? Nora and Ren had none. But she also noticed that Jaune did not look as surprised as the others did.

"It's the Grimm on the tower, right?" he asked in a low tone. "It's still there, and you don't know how to get rid of it."

The general nodded. "Yes. The huge beast seems to attract Grimm from across half the continent. We can secure the Vale, and try to contain the migration towards the school, but retaking the castle and the grounds around it would be too difficult, and probably too costly for the possible gain."

"What is going to happen to us? And other students?" asked Pyrrha, her head spinning from the shock.

"Many of you will probably be given opportunities to continue your studies in one of the other schools. Miss Valkyrie and Mr Ren, as citizens of Mistral, you two have guaranteed places in Haven. To you, Mr Arc, I´d like to offer a place in the Atlas Institute, we would certainly welcome your strength and talent," he nodded confidently at Jaune, and then turned to Pyrrha, his face conflicted. "As for you, Miss Nikos… I am afraid that your position is somewhat more complicated. While you are an exceptional student, a true prodigy, the recent events would make it difficult for you to be accepted to _any_ school or institute in the four kingdoms."

"You mean because half the Remnant saw what… what happened at the stadium? What I did to Penny?" Pyrrha´s voice was almost a whisper and she felt her eyes starting to water. "That I killed her?"

"You don't know? Well, I´m glad to deliver at least some good news today then," to everyone´s surprise, Ironwood smiled. "Miss Polendina was indeed severely damaged, and it will take some time to reassemble her properly, but I assure you, her core matrix and memory banks were intact, and she will be all right once we get her to her creator."

"You can repair her?" asked Nora surprised. "And she will be the same Penny?"

"Indeed," Ironwood was still smiling, "her… injuries… only put her out of action, but as long as the key parts survive, she can be repaired as good as new, still the same personality and memories. And we made those key parts very, very durable. I would be as bold as to claim that you wouldn't be able to damage them even if you wanted to."

Pyrrha simply gaped, half of her mind having problems comprehending what the general just said. It was the one thing about the last night she did not yet dared to think about, avoiding the issue in her mind until a quiet and private moment, because she was sure she would break down in tears and despair. She thought she had killed Penny, tore her to pieces in panic, and truly ended someone´s life. It did not matter that the life was robotic, she was obviously a living, thinking being with emotions.

But she had not ended anything… It felt as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders, the dark blanket covering her heart was gone. Was it possible that everything bad that happened yesterday would be undone?

"Miss Poledina will be alright," the general spoke up again, "but that doesn't change the fact you already mentioned, Miss Nikos. Half the Remnant saw you _seemingly_ kill an opponent in a championship match. Your face probably won´t appear on any Wanted posters within the kingdoms, but… be prepared for some negative reactions. The way our enemies presented it made sure your face will be very well remembered among the population."

Pyrrha had a feeling her mind was starting to go numb from all of the sudden shocks. Now she had to acknowledge that she would be a pariah in most of the civilised world? _No_ , her brain seemed to be saying, _I had enough, let us process it later. I am not dealing with all of this right now._

"That´s fine, as long as my friends know what really happened," Pyrrha´s smile was tired, but it was nonetheless a smile. She felt Jaune´s and Weiss´s hands grip her arm from each side, and saw Nora´s encouraging smile.

"And we do indeed," added Ren and nodded at her seriously.

"Sir, but what about us?" asked Weiss after a short silence. "I guess I can go to the Atlas Institute also, but what about Ruby? And Blake and Yang?"

"Taiyang Long will be taking both his daughters home," the general inclined his head towards Ruby, "he is just now speaking with the doctors about their treatment, and I expect they will both be sleeping in their own beds this evening. What will they do next is up to him, or more likely, up to them.

Miss Belladonna will certainly be accepted at the schools in Vacuo or Mistral, the decision, again, being up to her. But as for you, Miss Schnee," the general turned towards Weiss, "I am here also to deliver a message from your father. He is waiting for you at the Vale´s lower landing platform."

Weiss let out a high pitch yell and scrambled across her bed, away from Ironwood, and it seemed she was trying to crawl under her blankets, despite the fact that Jaune was sitting on them.

"What does he want?" she asked in an uncertain voice.

"I have no idea," the general shrugged, "but judging from the fact that his private airship is spooling her engines, ready to take off at moment´s notice, I guess he means to leave soon, and expects you to accompany him."

Weiss looked like a cornered animal for a moment, scared and desperate, but then she let out a deep sigh and her features smoothed over into a mask of calmness and serenity.

"It looks like there isn't much I can do, is there?" she asked in a resigned voice, getting up from her bed.

Ironwood didn't answer for a long while, watching Weiss starting to put together the few things she had on her when they fled the stadium, and then pick up the Myrtenaster. Only after she was finished and obviously ready to leave, which took only about ten seconds, he spoke up again. "I have to take back my words towards you from the last time we saw each other in your father´s house, Miss Schnee. In some ways, you are truly Winter´s sister, and I wouldn't dream of adding _little_. I look forward to seeing you in the Atlas Institute, young lady."

Weiss beamed up at the tall man with gratitude, and then turned to her friends.

"Pyrrha, I´m so glad you´re alive and well, and the same goes for all of you," she told them sincerely. "Send Ruby my love and tell her I will miss her, once she wakes up. I will do what I can for Yang, but I don't know what it will be, now that my... I just don't know. And tell Blake I won't forget her words, and thank her for opening my eyes, she will know what it means. I´ll try to get in touch. May you all be in good health and spirits," the words spilled from the Schnee heiress like water, Pyrrha and her friends almost having no time to react before she was at the door, the general sidestepping for her.

"You´re just… leaving?" asked Nora, uncomprehending. Others were just staring, completely stunned.

Weiss stopped and turned around as she was leaving the hospital room. "Yes. I don't want to keep my father waiting," she answered and even though her face was calm, they could all see the sadness in her eyes. "Seriously, guys, I´ll miss you all… well, except you, Arc, of course," she added dismissively, but her lips were twitching.

"Ooh, you wound me with your words!" Jaune fell theatrically from the bed, clutching at his heart. "Everything is turning black, I am dying!"

Weiss giggled along with the others at the blond-haired boy´s antics, then quickly turned and left the small ward. There were a few seconds of silence, during which Ren helped Jaune get up, and when Pyrrha opened her mouth to say something, the head with long scar across one eye and long, pristine snow hair appeared once more in the doorway: "Don't forget what I said! Tell Ruby I´ll miss her!" and then she was gone.

"Just like that?" asked Nora, still flabbergasted.

"Her father is probably a very strict man," said Ren.

"You have no idea," answered General Ironwood, stepping back inside the room, but gestured towards the exit. "Miss Nikos, if I may have a moment of your time?"

Pyrrha straightened her back as much as she could, straining her protesting muscles to the limit. "I will be telling my friends everything, as soon as I can," she declared defiantly.

General Ironwood considered her a long moment, before shrugging: "Under the circumstances, that may probably be for the best. Without professor Ozpin, most of us have differing opinions about how to proceed with our… mission, and your judgement is now probably as sound as everyone else´s."

"Is he really gone, then?" asked Jaune in a defeated tone.

"You are leaving it up to me?" Pyrrha was more than surprised.

"I don't think he´s dead," general sounded thoughtful, but convinced, "but he´ll probably be unavailable to us for some time. And yes, Miss Nikos, you are free to do what you think is best. We would certainly like to advice you, but the final decision is up to you. And right now, I had most of my work of the last several years pulled down around me. Glynda will have her hands full of securing the Vale and trying to sort out all the students. Your best bet now would be Qrow Branwen, but don't expect him to be available all the time. He is not the socializing type. I´m almost sorry to say that we´ll _have_ to leave you on your own for the most part."

Pyrrha sat in silence for a while, thinking hard, while her teammates watched her, mostly confused, and Ironwood waited patiently. After a minute or so, she shrugged her good shoulder a tiny bit.

"I do not think I have to worry right now about what I want to do in the future," she said, "since I will not be walking properly for at least two months and my arm will be in this sling for at least as long. Then I can decide what to do."

"You´re probably right," the general nodded, starting towards her wheelchair, "now, if you will allow me, we have several points we need to discuss."

"Jaune," Pyrrha turned to her blonde friend, her eyes uncertain, "could you please come with me?"

The young man was startled, to say the least, but he quickly nodded, got up from the bed and grabbed the handles. Pyrrha felt her heart surge at his immediate response. He didn't even hesitate… She knew she probably took his earlier remarks about keeping secrets too hard, but it still bothered her. Jaune rarely got angry, but he certainly didn´t like being kept in the dark, and from the several looks he threw at the general during their conversation, she knew he had issues with the man. And even though he obviously didn't hold it against her personally, she still felt immensely guilty for not telling him, or Nora and Ren, anything. She made a mistake, instead of accepting the help people around her offered, she pushed them away, literally showing Jaune into the flying locker to send him away. Her friends were there for her, but she chose to ignore them. She kept telling herself it was because she did not want to see them hurt, but there was also the possibility, although she didn't like to admit it, that it was her unwitting arrogance – she knew she _was_ better than her teammates, so she pushed them away so they would not hold her back. Maybe it was a little bit of both? She wished she knew the answer to that.

And as the result of her choice, she lost, and lost hard. If not for the intervention of Ruby and Weiss, who were sent there by Jaune in the first place, she would be dead now. It was that simple. All of her friends tried their hardest to get to her, to help her, after she pushed them away, and they all almost lost their lives doing it. Maybe if they went to confront Cinder together… Weiss held her own against that monster of a Grimm for quite a while, and Ruby somehow miraculously froze it, and defeated Cinder at the same time. And while Jaune and Ren weren´t the hardest hitters, they could certainly help, and Nora´s hammer definitely counted as a hard hit. She felt so much shame and regret for mistreating her friends, she half expected them to shun her now. But the first thing she saw, as she woke up, were the three heads of her teammates. And Weiss hugged her as soon as she had a chance, even though Pyrrha´s actions almost got her killed.

It was because of all this, that Jaune´s words about keeping secrets hit her so hard; it was exactly the angry reaction she expected from him, and even felt she deserved in some way. Yet he was not directing it exactly at her, and his actions spoke of simple, unquestioning trust in her. That was better than she felt she was worth, but all she could do was to accept it, and try not to betray the trust of her friends for a second time. She would not repeat the same mistakes. Her friends deserved infinitely much better than that.

"Thank you," she said, and for once did not feel powerless, despite having almost no strength in her muscles. She was done pushing her friends away.

* * *

She woke up annoyed and tired. She once again wedged her arm under her at a bad angle as she was sleeping, and now she felt only a phantom tingling from it. It was always this way, since she couldn't sleep on her stomach – which she loved to do as a kid. Some parts of her just… got in the way. She was always searching for the perfect sleeping position, which involved her parts safely tucked somewhere they didn't get in the way, and her arms and legs comfortably stretched. But arm-cramps in the morning were part of her life since she got those damned _parts_.

She didn't really mind all that much. The attention was surely flattering and she certainly knew how to use it to her advantage, but sometimes she envied her sister… or Weiss. Now those were nice, practical parts. Get the job done, but not get in the way.

She tried opening one eye to survey the room, and to decide if it was truly necessary to get up. Ruby and Weiss would be running about already, but Blake in the top bed was probably still curled in a ball. That girl truly lived up to her faunus heritage.

But what she saw confused her. Blake was already on her feet, crouching next to the bed, her back turned. Was that a backpack over her shoulder?

"What got you up so early in the morning?" she asked, her mind still only halfway to conscious. "Isn´t it a bit too late for a moonlit stroll over the rooftops?" the cat-jokes were her favourite ever since they found out about Blake´s ears.

Her teammate jumped and turned around, her eyes huge.

"You´re awake!" she yelped, but for some reason kept her voice down. Were Ruby and Weiss still sleeping and she was being polite? She thought she heard Weiss talking somewhere nearby, so that wasn't true.

"Of course," she answered with a yawn, "just give me a minute, I´ll get up in a sec. But really, what´s with the bag?"

The eyes of her partner had a strange shine in them. They weren't tears, but what…?

"I´m sorry, Yang," spoke Blake, voice breaking, and her form suddenly darkened into black shadow and quickly dissolved to nothingness. The faunus was gone.

She tried getting up from her bed, and immediately fell down. Her damn hand was still asleep, the tingling wasn't getting any stronger to signify the blood flowing back into it. Well, at least she could use it as a leverage.

She reached with her left hand to grab her right and put it under her to prop herself.

The fingers found only empty air.

* * *

Once Jaune, Pyrrha and General Ironwood got outside, it was only a short walk – or a ride in her case – to an improvised military camp, where Ironwood´s soldiers were sleeping. There were only about fifty of them left, but that did not mean anything to Pyrrha, since she did not know…

"General Ironwood?" she asked, as they neared a tent set a small distance from the others. "How many soldiers arrived here with you?"

"Eighty six," he answered in a heavy voice, and suddenly seemed much older to her. "I have forty five now."

Jaune almost lost his balance, and Pyrrha had a tense moment, since it seemed he would lose control over her wheelchair.

"Sir, I knew there was heavy fighting, but… that many?" the blonde boy was stricken. "We haven't lost any students, as far as I know. I just thought it wasn't all that bad."

"That's what we soldiers are here for," the general´s voice was as hard as steel, pride and sorrow mixing together. "So none of the students and civilians have to die. And sometimes, it´s up to us to do the dying in their place."

Jaune and Pyrrha didn't have any reply, so they travelled rest of the way in silence. And because of that, they could hear an exchange from inside the tent, before they entered.

"…I´m simply saying, it might be quicker, to-" spoke a female voice, but was interrupted.

"A search might draw attention to him," there was the other voice, man´s. "Right now he´s probably weak and vulnerable, and if they find him…"

General Ironwood stepped inside, cleared his throat loudly and both voices quieted. When Pyrrha entered with Jaune, they saw a small table with several maps and other papers, and Glynda Goodwitch and Qrow Branwen standing on the opposite sides of the table, arguing. Or at least, they were, because now they turned their attention to the newcomers.

Qrow Branwen simply smiled crookedly at the pair, and nodded at them, but deputy-headmistress Goodwitch scowled.

"James, we agreed we won´t involve any more people in this," she stated in a disapproving tone.

"I´d say the lass deserves to make her own choice, don't you?" Qrow raised one eyebrow at the general, who nodded.

"We don't have Ozpin to guide us right now," he said. "And can you honestly say you know better than her?"

"After the way the bad guys sucker-punched us last night?" added Qrow. "Those kids did better job at stopping Cinder than any of us."

Professor Goodwitch harrumphed, but didn't say anything. They all settled around the table, the general, the hunter and the teacher on one side, the two students on the other.

"First thing first, we need to know everything that happened in the dungeons," started the general. "The last thing Ozpin told us was that he planned to start the transfer between you and Amber. How did it go?"

Pyrrha shuddered a bit at the memory. She still could not describe, even inside her head, how it felt, the connection with the previous Fall Maiden. Like receiving a dose of pure, wild energy, like having her blood pumping at twice the normal rate. But that did not even come close, and left out the weird intimacy with the person on the other side of the transfer, and that creeping unnaturalness of the whole process. And when Amber got shot with Cinder´s arrow, Pyrrha almost felt the pain herself, as if it was her who was dying.

She shuddered again, but took a deep breath, and in quick, simple sentences described to the trio everything that happened last night, from the moment she chose to follow Ozpin inside the school.

"This complicates things," spoke professor Goodwitch, after Pyrrha finished. "It seems like you received _some_ of the Fall Maiden´s power, but majority went to Cinder."

"And from what you said, she was able to use that power immediately, and quite successfully," continued the general in a thoughtful tone. "That is worrying."

"But… did not Ruby defeat Cinder? Should not have her part of the power come to Ruby?" asked Pyrrha.

"The pipsqueak didn't kill Cinder," answered Qrow. By his voice, he neither agreed nor disagreed with the act, "though I suspect she had her chance. But Cinder ran, with most of the Maiden´s power."

"I can understand Ruby beating Cinder," spoke up Jaune. Pyrrha was appreciative of his willingness to simply listen, even though he probably didn't yet comprehend what they were all talking about. "But how did she take out that dragon-Grimm? That thing was huge."

Pyrrha noticed that even general Ironwood and professor Goodwitch both raised their eyebrows a little bit and glanced towards red-eyed hunter.

"That… might be difficult to believe," started Qrow evasively, but Jaune did not say anything in response, simply stared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. Pyrrha was uncertain about this direct and intense young man, who was very much unlike the clumsy, jovial Jaune Arc she knew from the school.

"Have you ever heard of the Silver-eyed warriors?" asked Mr Branwen after a short while.

"That´s an old myth," shrugged the general, but none of the others seemed to catch.

"It´s no myth," said Qrow and lowered his voice, so it would not carry far, and they all had to lean in to hear him properly. "It was from the time even before the hunters and huntresses. Those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior, and they were the very best. Fearsome fighters and killers. It was said that even a single look of those silver eyes could freeze a Grimm into stone. They were the one thing even the creatures of the dark feared."

"Don't be absurd," waved professor Goodwitch her hand dismissively. "Grimm have no higher emotions, no fear, and I never heard of anyone _freezing_ one of those creatures."

General Ironwood rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Have you looked at the Tower of Beacon lately, Glynda?" he said, and then narrowed his eyes at Qrow. "And you think that Ruby Rose is one of those Silver-eyed warriors?"

"I don't think, I _know_ ," said the hunter, irritated. "The trait is inherited, and you both met Summer. You can't tell me that woman wasn't a top tier fighter." That made both of the adults think for a long time, and meanwhile, Qrow continued: "Ozpin knew all of this, that's why he accepted her into the school early. And she´s still the best fighter in her year, with the exception of you, kid," he nodded towards Pyrrha. "And she only started growing. The stare thing is probably not conscious, like a semblance, but something that triggers by itself, when she really needs it to. I have a feeling she won´t remember much of her fight against Cinder, and nothing about taking down that dragon-Grimm. I´ll talk to her once she wakes up, and explain things, but even I don't know that much."

"Well, are we supposed to train her?" wondered the general. "I can take her to the Atlas Institute, but I probably won´t have much time for her myself. And her personality…"

"She wouldn't fit it with your boys and girls in uniforms," smirked Qrow. "You got that right. And Glynda," he turned to the teacher just as she was opening her mouth. "I know you´re a good teacher, great even, but look at the state of Beacon, Vale city and the kingdom in general. Do you really want to look after the hyperactive little tyke? In this chaos?"

"You obviously plan to teach her yourself," professor Goodwitch´s eyebrows were knitted together dangerously.

"Nope," the hunter threw his arms wide, "since I already taught her most of what I know. She only needs practice, experience and strength, but otherwise she´s as good as me."

"So what… we just leave her home, living with her father and waiting for Cinder to come for her?" demanded Ironwood indignantly.

"She won´t stay home," Qrow sat down on one of the chairs that were around the table, so far unused by anyone. "Ruby´s a fighting spirit, she won´t sit still. She´ll go hunting after Cinder and her crowd at the first opportunity she gets."

"Oh, the plan is for her to run blindly into danger?" professor Goodwitch was still frowning.

"Hey, either she goes after them when and where we can watch over her, or we try to stop her, and then she´ll gives us a slip and runs off to only Darkness knows where."

"And by _we_ in this case, you mean _yourself_ ," clarified the general.

"You two are welcome to join up," the hunter spoke in a voice heavy with sarcasm, and then pulled out a small flask from a pocket and took a gulp. "I have some leads to follow up anyways, so I can sure use the help."

"I know we don't have much choice," said the teacher after a long pause, her tone sad and resigned. "But I still don't like sending such a small child into danger alone."

Qrow only snorted, and took another gulp from the bottle, and the quiet stretched, as the other two adults were lost in thoughts.

"We´ll go with her," said Jaune suddenly into the silence. Pyrrha was not at all surprised, as she was only half a second behind him with the same words. She did not miss the small twitch of Qrow´s lips.

"With all due respect, sir, general," Jaune continued, emboldened by Pyrrha´s reassuring grip on his shoulder, "I don't want to go to your Institute. If Ruby runs after Cinder and her allies, we´ll be right there with her."

"I understand you probably want to protect me right now," added the fiery-haired warrior beside him, "but I will not sit out everything in safety, while my friends are out there, risking their lives."

"You _do_ know that you´re Cinder´s number one target right now," asked Qrow off-handedly, his fingers playing with the flask on the table, slowly rotating it. "She´ll want to kill or capture you and get the rest of the power for herself."

Pyrrha gulped at that, but nodded. "I won´t confront her alone again, sir," she said, yet her voice was not exactly steady.

"The best thing would be…" started the shabby hunter, still in the same tone, but his eyes left the rotating flask, and pierced her with a look so intense she broke a sweat. "If you managed to kill Cinder yourself, and make the Fall Maiden whole again."

"Qrow!" the professor reacted immediately, turning furiously on the man.

"You can´t ask her to do something like that," Jaune wasn't much slower. But the general was silent, and Pyrrha herself hadn't said anything. Partly, she was horrified that she did not flinch in the face of Qrow´s words, and accepted them as more or less truth. She probably knew right from the moment they realised that Cinder stole part of the Fall Maiden´s power, that she would have to face the woman again. The difficult part was coming to terms with how this particular road would end, even if Pyrrha won.

"It may not be necessary," spoke up the general after a short deliberation. "We still have the transfer technology we tried with Amber, and we now know it works. Capturing Cinder would probably suffice."

"Eh," the shabby hunter shrugged his shoulders, "that's probably true. I´m just saying the killing is easier… OW!" He yelped, as Glynda whacked him on the head with quite some force.

"Truly an example to the coming generation," she said caustically. Pyrrha could not help it and giggled a bit, and saw that Jaune was also snickering. The sight of their teacher berating the tall, cynic hunter, like he was a fifteen-year old student was just too funny. And the realisation that Pyrrha could probably avoid becoming a murderess certainly helped.

"You still have quite a recovery in front of you, Miss Nikos," even the general´s lips were twitching, "these questions can come later, and we all have a lot on our minds right now."

"If you would, I´d like you to stay with me and several other students that probably have nowhere to go," professor Goodwitch turned to Pyrrha with her kind face, which was a rare sight. "The Beacon Academy owns several buildings in the Vale city, and I can see to your housing and treatment. Your team is welcome to join you, of course."

"That sounds great," Pyrrha smiled in gratitude, "I think Nora and Ren would like to stay here as well."

"Will team RWBY be with us?" inquired Jaune hopefully. Pyrrha almost smiled at the image of all the mischief they all would get into together.

"I… don't think so," the general spoke up slowly. "Miss Schnee flew away about half an hour ago, as you know. And I have a feeling that Miss Belladona will not be staying here either."

"What do you mean?" asked Pyrrha, perplexed.

"We heard some grumblings from Menagerie, back where her folks live," commented Qrow, "I have to agree with the soldier-boy here, the girl won´t sit still."

"Can't you stop her?" Jaune wanted to know.

"Since the Beacon Academy is no more, we can hardly try to convince anyone to stay," said professor Goodwitch sadly. "Although I would be sad to see Miss Belladona go, I too half-expect her to do so, even though I still plan to convince her not to."

"Ruby and Yang are going home, too," Qrow stopped playing with his flask and got up from his chair. "Taiyang is picking them up, probably as we speak. Which reminds me I´m going with him, since we got through the important stuff here already."

"Can I count on you to stay within the refugee compound, Miss Nikos, Mr Arc?" asked professor Goodwitch, also heading to the opening in the tent. "I imagine we´ll all be quite busy in the days to come, and I could use all the help I can get, at least from those who can stand."

"Certainly, professor," nodded Jaune.

"I am… not sure what good will I do," sighed Pyrrha. "I cannot even get up from this chair by myself."

"Your job is to get better, Pyrrha," Jaune patted her shoulders lightly and turned the wheelchair toward the exit. "Leave the rest to us."

"Will you let us know what Ruby is up to?" Pyrrha asked Qrow as he was leaving.

"Sure thing, kid," the shabby hunter looked over his shoulder, "I´ll tell her she can count on you."

"Glynda, I want to talk to you about the Academy compound, we need to…" General Ironwood fell into step beside the professor, as they walked away from the pair of students. Qrow Branwen also disappeared quickly among the tents.

"It looks like everyone on team RWBY is going their own separate ways," said Pyrrha, looking around the refugee camp as they rolled through.

"But JNPR is staying together," countered Jaune in a confident tone. "We won´t let anything separate us, and then we´ll help RWBY get together once again."

Pyrrha smiled, her heart soaring with pride in the young man beside her. "Thank you, Jaune."

"For what?" asked the confused warrior.

"Everything," she answered.

"Alright… I guess?" he shrugged, still clueless.

The young hunter and huntress moved among the refugees in silence for a while.

"Do we now go find Ren and Nora?" he asked after they arrived among the warehouses once more.

"I think I would like to lie down and rest," answered Pyrrha. Despite the fact that she did not have to move, she still felt exhausted. "We also need to talk. Just the two of us."

Jaune´s ears reddened, but he nodded his head and then said: "Alright, to the hospital first. Then we can talk."

* * *

Disclaimer: Sadly, none of these wonderful characters belong to me.

A/N: This more or less concludes the prologue for my story - I had planned on a single short chapter, but ended up with something so long it had to be separated into two parts. From now on, while the story will take into account the events of 4th season, I will start making it my own. I´m looking forward to where this journey takes me, and hope many of you will like what I create. I´m very grateful for your reviews and follows (which I already got more of than expected) - it certainly fills me with hope and confidence to continue writing at my highest speed. I can´t promise regular updates, but so far the plan is about one chapter a month. We´ll see whether this survives contact with reality.

And of course, huge thanks to my betareader - Kasumi, who I more or less got me to start writing this all down in the first place, and who can stand and listen to me blabber about RWBY for gods only know how long.


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